While I may have conversed with Patrick on the AMV mailing list between 1999 and 2001, I first met him in person at AWA 7, back in 2001. It was my first convention ever, and I traveled all the way down from Michigan to check out the DDR project, which I had heard about on the AMV ML. That year, even though I had paid to attend, I helped out in a number of ways in the VAT, including running interference for Patrick while he tried to finish the assembly of the project. I had such a great time, and met several good friends, that I've been retuning to AWA ever since, as a member of the VAT staff. Since then, I've attended many other conventions, as well as staffed a few. We talked shop many times, both online and in person, and it was quite easy to see his joy at being a father. I was looking forward to seeing him again in September. Having met him has changed my life in several ways, and I will miss him. He was a great man, and a good friend. My heart and thoughts go out to Debra and Sylvia.

Last edited by Coderjoe on Mon Jul 30, 2012 6:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I'm checking with others to see if there is already a place to make donations to the Bohnet family. I should know definitely by tomorrow. If we can, we should direct donations to the official site. If not, I will set up a donation method here and present the collection as soon as we can. I would like to push to have as many donations ready in the next two weeks. Funeral expenses are a sudden financial jolt and the Bohnets may need help as soon as possible. We can also leave the donations up until AWA and make a second presentation there. Patrick has given so much to this site and community, so it's the least we can do in this time of crisis.

When great tragedies happen, people are often asked: "Where were you when you heard the news?" I remember exactly where I was and it'll be a long time before I forget that moment.

I was in the Publications Operations room of Otakon preparing for the Con Feedback Session. I saw Amanda come into the room looking distraught and thought I heard her say: "My pet's dead." But as she got closer, my gut tightened up when I understood she was saying "Pat's dead." And from there most of my memories went into a haze.

Like many of you, my first interactions with Pat were online via the AMV Mailing List and IRC. Initially it was a bunch of techno babble about video playback systems and offering to mirror Waldo's FTP. We didn't meet in person until 2002 or 2003 at Anime Weekend Atlanta -- yet had sent hard drives back and forth through the mail countless time prior keeping our archives in sync. Over the years I got to know him better and understood why he poured so much of his blood sweat and tears into the AMV community. To him, AMVs were a form of art and he was like a curator. He wanted to preserve them and present them to the audience the way the creator had intended. I think that's one of the reasons he spent so much time researching and tweaking the Netstream 2000 playback system that is still in use today. But no matter how much you love a hobby, life comes first.

I remember in 2005 he called me up out of the blue and asked if I'd be interested in taking over the Iron Chef competition. He was suffering burnout from running the AMV tech at so many anime conventions but wanted to make sure that the work he started would continue. I agreed and a short while later a heavy box full of Iron Chef medallions arrived bearing the phrase "Celerius Difficilus Maius", which roughly translates to "Faster Harder Louder". Eight years later his event is still running strong and has branched out to four conventions.

Pat and I lost touch for a year or so when he stepped back from convention work but we eventually reconnected through food. Pat loved to cook and was always trying out new recipes or new variations on his favorites. He was always fond of this one German sandwich (whose name escapes me) and would bring a box of them to AWA on Thursday or Friday night for the VAT staff. Always the inclusionist, he came up with a vegetarian version for me to try using eggplant cutlets instead of the usual meaty version. We'd spend hours at AWA or online talking about Alton Brown's latest MacGuyver-esque cooking techniques or some other facet of the culinary arts. I can still remember his excited hand gestures as he talked through a recipe and acted out the steps in mid-air. He was so full of enthusiasm.

He'd told me about his heart condition years ago but I never thought it would have taken him away so soon. Pat was a great man first and foremost. He loved his wife Debra and always beamed with pride over his daughter Sylvia when I saw them outside the VAT at AWA. His passing is slowly settling in but I know that his memory will live on through all the people he touched and the community he helped inspire. Goodbye Pat, we'll miss you.

Good to see you here. Those early conversations were so full of wonder and potential. To think... So much of what we spoke of has come to pass. I don't think any of us could have imagined what were starting, and Patrick least of all, who put in so much. He was an absent minded tinkerer, and his vision was always of a universe he simply saw clearer than others, with no personal stake or benefit desired.

I miss those conversations, and I bluntly put, especially with all of his recent work, those conversations had started happening again.

Waldo wrote:I was in the Publications Operations room of Otakon preparing for the Con Feedback Session. I saw Amanda come into the room looking distraught and thought I heard her say: "My pet's dead." But as she got closer, my gut tightened up when I understood she was saying "Pat's dead." And from there most of my memories went into a haze.

Unfortunately it had only taken the short walk from AMV Ops to Pub's for it to hit me as hard as it did. I'm sure my blubbering was hard to interpret.

Pat was an amazing friend, it's hard to think of the fact that I will no longer see him at AWA anymore. Among the many things listed in this forum, if it weren't for him I wouldn't have an awesome contest that I mascot proudly for year to year.

I count myself fortunate to have been on the receiving end of one of Quu's signature rib-crushing bear hugs. I'm glad I got to spend a little time with him and other AMVers back in 2005 at AWA.

I am deeply saddened by his passing. Despite not being active in AMVs outside of local conventions, I enjoyed following his LiveJournal and his recipe and cooking adventures. His impact on the AMV community is immeasurable; there are many people feeling his loss on a personal level as well as professional one.

I just wanted to thank you all so much. To say that Pat loved this community doesn't give it justice. The only thing he really loved more was his daughter Sylvia, but that was only for the past year of his life. We never would have met had it not been for AMVs... particularly Lostboy and his old forum.

I'm still trying to get through reading all the posts on this thread, but to know his memory is still alive in people, even those who barely knew him, means so much to me. Soon I'll be printing these post out and adding them to the pile of stories I want to share with Sylvia when she is older. Everyone is still welcome to add these stories and more to the Digital Guestbook. This guestbook will actually be made into a nice keepsake hardbound book. It will be open until 8/28 so please keep signing and adding your stories.

Some of you were able to come to the funeral, others sent flowers, and I thank you all for remembering Quu and his life. Please don't forget him and keep telling the stories, laughing and creating more 'art'. I want Sylvia to know how much AMVs meant to her Daddy so I'm hoping to keep going to AWA and showing her the VAT, Iron Editor, and everything he helped to create.

One of the things I'm going to try to do is find the code that he created to help organize and run the AMV contest website and release it for others to use. I know he was working on other projects (Rebuilding the vid player too if his constant cursing meant anything) and if you know what they were please let me know so we can go digging through his computers to try and find it. I don't want all his work to be lost. He wrote things for people to use and I intend on seeing that it is. Anything that isn't finished we might make calls out to the community to help and try finish it, but only time will tell what we find.

People have asked about donating to Sylvia's college fund. I've already talked to Phade and we still don't have anything 'official' setup. In a weird quirk of fate, everyone got "Con Plague" after the funeral. It's been making dealing with things even harder.

I hope to see as many of you all at AWA this year. I won't be in the VAT all weekend, but Sylvia and I will be there for when they do the memorial.

For the Video Art Track at Anime Weekend Atlanta, we're doing a specialTribute to Patrick during Iron Editor. It features a short talk, someof his videos and a short ending tribute video with a moment of silenceat the end. It runs about 12-15 minutes in total and we're aiming tohave it around 7:00 pm during the Iron Editor Competition.